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Culver's
Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers". The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and has a total of 1,000 restaurants in 26 states as of April 2025.[update]
Sauk City restaurateurs and husband and wife team George and Ruth Culver started their fast food careers as the owners of an A&W on Phillips Boulevard (U.S. Highway 12) in 1961. In 1968, they purchased a resort-styled restaurant at Devil's Lake called The Farm Kitchen. Their son, Craig Culver, worked for a local McDonald's right out of college in 1973. George, Ruth, their son Craig, and his wife Lea opened the first Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers in Sauk City, Wisconsin on July 18, 1984. Craig was CEO of Culver's from its inception until mid-2015.
The Culver family started franchising the restaurant in 1988. The family agreed, granting the franchisee a loose licensing agreement, charging no fees or royalties. Because the franchisee had invested very little of his own money, it was a simple matter for him to walk away a year later when he decided he no longer wanted to be in the restaurant business.[citation needed]
As a result of this experience, the Culver family established a set of standard franchising procedures that form the basis for those currently used by Culver Franchising System, Inc. Three years later, they tried again in Baraboo, and business quickly doubled. Soon after, the increased recognition that the second store earned this small-town chain prompted expansion into the Middleton, Madison and Milwaukee areas.[citation needed]
Culver's was still a small, local chain in 1993, with only 14 restaurants across southern Wisconsin. Their first restaurants outside Wisconsin opened in Buffalo, Minnesota in September 1995, Roscoe, Illinois in December 1995, and Dubuque, Iowa in November 1997.[citation needed]
Culver's soon shifted its attention to developing markets beyond the Midwest, and opened the first franchise outside the region in Texas in February 1998. The current franchising strategy is one of strategic expansion. The chain expanded into Colorado Springs, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2005, followed by an opening in Bowling Green, Kentucky in July 2006. [citation needed]
Locations traditionally had a 120-seat format through much of Culver's expansion. The Metro-98 prototype was developed in 2006 and first constructed in Fort Dodge, Iowa. While the new layout has less seating to offer guests, it also reduced the amount of land needed for construction by around 20%.
The company expanded to the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2008. The first franchise in Utah opened in Midvale in 2011, when a couple from Wisconsin relocated there. They signed a development agreement for four locations in the southern half of Salt Lake County.
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Culver's
Culver Franchising System, LLC, doing business as Culver's, is an American fast-casual restaurant chain. The company was founded in 1984 by George, Ruth, Craig, and Lea Culver. The first location opened in Sauk City, Wisconsin, on July 18, 1984, under the name "Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers". The privately held company is headquartered in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. The chain operates primarily in the Midwestern United States, and has a total of 1,000 restaurants in 26 states as of April 2025.[update]
Sauk City restaurateurs and husband and wife team George and Ruth Culver started their fast food careers as the owners of an A&W on Phillips Boulevard (U.S. Highway 12) in 1961. In 1968, they purchased a resort-styled restaurant at Devil's Lake called The Farm Kitchen. Their son, Craig Culver, worked for a local McDonald's right out of college in 1973. George, Ruth, their son Craig, and his wife Lea opened the first Culver's Frozen Custard and ButterBurgers in Sauk City, Wisconsin on July 18, 1984. Craig was CEO of Culver's from its inception until mid-2015.
The Culver family started franchising the restaurant in 1988. The family agreed, granting the franchisee a loose licensing agreement, charging no fees or royalties. Because the franchisee had invested very little of his own money, it was a simple matter for him to walk away a year later when he decided he no longer wanted to be in the restaurant business.[citation needed]
As a result of this experience, the Culver family established a set of standard franchising procedures that form the basis for those currently used by Culver Franchising System, Inc. Three years later, they tried again in Baraboo, and business quickly doubled. Soon after, the increased recognition that the second store earned this small-town chain prompted expansion into the Middleton, Madison and Milwaukee areas.[citation needed]
Culver's was still a small, local chain in 1993, with only 14 restaurants across southern Wisconsin. Their first restaurants outside Wisconsin opened in Buffalo, Minnesota in September 1995, Roscoe, Illinois in December 1995, and Dubuque, Iowa in November 1997.[citation needed]
Culver's soon shifted its attention to developing markets beyond the Midwest, and opened the first franchise outside the region in Texas in February 1998. The current franchising strategy is one of strategic expansion. The chain expanded into Colorado Springs, Colorado and Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2005, followed by an opening in Bowling Green, Kentucky in July 2006. [citation needed]
Locations traditionally had a 120-seat format through much of Culver's expansion. The Metro-98 prototype was developed in 2006 and first constructed in Fort Dodge, Iowa. While the new layout has less seating to offer guests, it also reduced the amount of land needed for construction by around 20%.
The company expanded to the Phoenix metropolitan area in 2008. The first franchise in Utah opened in Midvale in 2011, when a couple from Wisconsin relocated there. They signed a development agreement for four locations in the southern half of Salt Lake County.